Catch you, Catch me!
by AppleJuiceSenpai
Summary: It was cool that Takane was just a boring high school student during the day, and the notorious thief 'Headphone Actor' at night. It was all cool until the person who was in charge of capturing her transfers into her class, and then it wasn't cool anymore. Harutaka AU.
1. Prologue

Catch you, Catch me!

_This chapter is unedited_

**Warnings:** None this Chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kagerou Project/ Kagerou Days/ MCA or it's characters.

**A/N:** "You know what you should do? Start another story -a multi-chap at that!- while you still haven't finished the others! Doesn't that sound fun?"  
Hell yea it does.

-shrugs shamelessly- This fandom needs more AU fanfics anyways and one good thing about being a fanfiction author is being able to write what one wants. Then again, you have to _write_. Sighs. Oh well. I hope people enjoy this and I'll try to update soon. -Has no idea where they are going with this-

Enjoy!

_**EDIT: 5/25/14**_Ah, changed the writing style It wasn't really a style change, more of changing the pretenses. I tried something an- Yeah. Didn't really fill my cup like I wanted it to so I changed it! :D Hopefully I edited this correctly...Oh well. -shrugs-

* * *

Prologue

"Ah, so you're the very famous 'Konoha', the famous high school aged detective." Kenjirou said, plainly. He was staring blankly at the lanky boy in front of him. "Er...I knew you were coming, but I was expecting someone more..."

"Cooler? Ouch." The lanky boy said, laughing and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I know, people usually don't see me as the type to be a detective, a high school one at that." He smiles, and gave a one shoulder shrug. "Still, I'd like to help out on this case! If, I mean...that's alright with you?" Another smile.

Kenjirou sighed.

Really, it was bad enough that a thief has been making a mockery of _his_ police force. Then comes the oh so famous 'Konoha', a detective famous for his age _and_ his skills. If that wasn't rubbing it in that his police force couldn't handle a simple _thief _then what did?

Still, it would be nice to actually have this case closed and filed.

"Oh, I guess we need all the help we can get." Kenjirou muttered, and nods towards the lanky boy. Now that he took a closer look, he noticed a small mole under one of his eyes. Other than that, the boy was plain looking. "Have this." He held up the folder that was on his desk, and the boy took it tentatively.

Thumbing through the pages, the boy was speaking. "Oh, I also heard that the thief only steals jewels?" He asked, not looking up from the file.

"Yes." Kenjirou admitted slightly bitter. "And she returns them the next day. She is basically mocking my police force in the cruelest way possible. She always put's on a big show, leaving messages like stealing these jewels are a joke."

He took a moment, needing a moment to calm down. This thief was a tricky little bugger who seemingly refused to get caught and costing the police force money in her sick game of hide and seek. Sighing deeply, Kenjirou took a huge drink of coffee.

Ah, if only it was a bit more Irish.

"She?" The boy said, glancing up. His hair moved with his movement, and Kenjirou dully noted that it was messy. Kids and their styles now a days. "How do you know the thief's a she?"

"There's a picture of her in the back." Kenjirou said, and the boy blinked. They both seemed to notice that the boy had been holding the folder backwards and the boy laughs sheepishly, fixing it quickly and finding the picture. "We don't have a name for her, but considering the 'act' she insists on playing, along with the headphones she wears, we have dubbed her 'Headphone Actor'." He snorted, softly, taking another swig of coffee, sadly noting that he was almost out.

"...'Headphone Actor'?" The boy mused, softly. Kenjirou knew the picture he was currently examining, seeing as of that he had stared at it countless time. They just _couldn't_ get a good picture of the thief, and thus the image that they had was blurry and a bit grainy. Still, the clear outline of pigtails and headphones was shown in the photo. They also filed in reports that the thief wore a gas mask as well.

Like he had thought earlier, _kids and their stupid styles_.

"Hn." Kenjirou started, setting his now empty coffee mug on the desk. "What do you think?" He asked, gruffly. It was getting late and Kenjirou just wanted to go home and have a nice family dinner with his family who he hasn't seen properly in a while.

He was feeling _deprived._ Kenjirou sighed and looked up at the boy who finally started to talk.

"I think..." Haruka Kokonose said, with a huge smile and closing the file gently."That I can't wait to meet her."

* * *

Enjoy this chapter? Why not leave a review/favorite/follow?

They're greatly appreciated.

Like, totally.

:D

-AJ


	2. Chapter 1

Catch you, Catch me!

_This chapter is unedited._

**Warnings:** Cussing. Bad writing, haha.

**A/N:** This story is just one big 'wing it'. Orz. This chapter was constructed over various period of time and poorly stitched together by poor wit and test fried brain power. Yep. Also, I tried a different way of writing last chapter. I might rewrite that later, but for now:

Enjoy!

(P.S PLEASE SERIOUSLY TELL ME IF THERE ARE ANY GRAMMAR/SPELLING MISTAKES. I'm lazy.)

* * *

Chapter One

Being a thief wasn't easy.

It meant worrying late into the night, and being paranoid during the day. Plus, no one -almost no one, that is- knew who you were. It was exhausting, and for Takane Enomoto, it meant being more tired than she usually was.

Call her a fool, an idiot, whatever.

She called herself desperate.

"Oi, idiot." A voice told her, and she let out a groan in response. Takane dug her head deeper into her pillows, and tugged the blanket tighter around her. She was comfortable and warm and she'll be _damned_ if she broke her alarm clock for nothing. These few extra minutes of sleep were _well earned._ "Get up. We're going to be late."

"No, asshole," Takane slurred. "You go away..."

"You're impossible." The voice grunted, and suddenly, Takane's blanket was ripped away.

It took a few moments to react.

Sitting upright, Takane glared wildly at the destroyer of dreams, of hopes, a smart ass who was only good at being half of it, someone who went by the name of Shintaro Kisaragi. He smirked lazily in response, and let the blanket fall to the already cluttered floor.

"Rise and shine, _Actor_." Shintaro greeted, over her angry sputtering. "Now hurry up and get dressed, or we're going to be late for school."

As much as Takane wanted to argue, she held back a grimace and gave a curt nod. What he called her lingered in her mind.

_Actor._

As in, 'Headphone Actor', the notorious thief who never gets caught and always returns what she stole the next day. -"What a _stupid_ name..." "A stupid name for a stupid person? Fitting, really." "Kisaragi, you fucking bastard."- She was the most wanted on the police list right now, and Takane herself had a few laughs at the comments aimed towards her in the local newspapers.

It seemed that Ayano's dad, head of the police force, had very low opinions on _Actor._

Takane felt sorry for Ayano, for having such a creepy person as a father. Someone as nice as her didn't deserve such a fate. Or...perhaps she did? After all, she did wear her red muffler almost _always_ and claimed that it was the color of heroes.

Maybe the Tateyama family had a justice fetish.

…

Which is exactly the reason why Ayano doesn't know about Takane's alter ego, 'Headphone Actor'. As much as Takane would like for her to be in on it, it wouldn't work out in her favor. Shintaro only knows because Takane is a weak, and stupid, soul.

So, so, stupid.

She would've been caught the first week stealing if it wasn't for Shintaro.

The oh so 'smart and potentially gifted' Shintaro was her only confidant. Which is just sad in Takane's case, but beggars can't be choosers, now can they? Especially when it came down to it, Takane didn't have a _choice._ She had to do this, and Shintaro, thankfully, understood that.

Her Grandfather was putting her between a rock and hard place. Honestly. Who cares about saving the money for Takane's future? Especially if said Grandpa desperately needed it for a surgery? Ugh, sometimes Takane hated the stubbornness that was her Grandpa.

If he wants to be stubborn, then so can Takane.

Hell, 'stubborn' was practically Takane's middle name.

…

"How the hell did you even get into my house?" Takane said. She was talking around a mouthful of toast. "I'm pretty sure my Grandma locks up the house before she goes over to the hospital." Ever since Grandpa was hospitalized, Takane had to pretty much take care of the house and herself seeing as of that her Grandma would spend almost every waking moment with him.

Not that she could blame her. In fact, it helped with Takane's activities as 'Headphone Actor'.

"Hidden key, under the rock beside the doorway." Shintaro shrugged. "Pretty obvious."

"Pretty _stalkerish_." Takane retorted. "Holy hell, is it that easy to find that thing? I'm going to have to have a talk with Grandma..." But, after some thought, Takane agreed it was pretty obvious seeing a random rock on the porch.

"Whatever. We need to talk about your next heist." Shintaro continued. "After school, I'm going to send the calling card to the police. Then we're going to go over your goal and hopefully, that will be it until the next time it cools down." He sent her an amused glance. "You're been getting quite popular, lately. Maybe we should take a longer break this time..."

Takane glared. "We can't afford one. _He_ can't afford one."

"Hm." Shintaro hummed in agreement and looked forward. He kept walking. After a few quiet moments of walking, and school coming into view, he said. "Ayano is getting suspicious."

"Hu—What?" Takane blinked. "Of what?" Of _her_? She swore that she did her best to keep Ayano in the dark of 'Headphone Actor'. It wasn't _that_ hard, she just had to act like she always did: uninterested. "About what? If you're accusing me of something-"

"No, idiot. I mean, she is getting suspicious of the two of us hanging out more than usual." Shintaro's voice indicated a clear '_Duh_'. Like Takane was supposed to already have known this. She scowled. "She texted me last night asking why and I didn't know how to respond other than you needing help on math." A pause. "How _are_ you in math? Last time I check you were fail-"

"None of your business!" Takane snapped. She huffed and lowered her voice as they entered the school gates. "And what is there to be suspicious _of_? Can't two..._friends_ hang out together?" The word tasted bitter on her tongue, but it was true. They were friends on some odd level.

-_"Hey, help me thieve some stuff, will ya? :D"_

_-"Lol, suuurrreeee. BFFs forever! n.n"_

Takane made a face. They may be friends who helped each other out at times, but she swore to god that was going to change if they started talking like that to each other. Shintaro eyed her as they entered their homeroom class together, as if sensing her imaginary conversation.

"..." He sat down and waited for her to sit down next to him before he started talking. Ayano, luckily, wasn't anywhere in sight yet. "She is using the 'Don't make me feel like a third wheel' card." Shintaro made a face. "Not our fault, if she is a third wheel. All she talks about is 'Headphone Actor' and how her dad is going to catch her sooner or later."

"Hmph." Takane pulled out her notebook and a pencil. "He can try, alright. He can try."

"Don't get cocky." Shintaro muttered, resting his head on the desk. His voice was muffled. "Just because we haven't got caught so far, doesn't mean the possibility is out the window. Your chances are pretty good with me on your side but, not everything is impossible."

And he's calling _her_ cocky? "Egh, whatever. Hey, do you have the notes we took in Biology, yesterday? I was, er...busy." Takane asked, ready to just drop the conversation and leave it at that. So far, the police force hasn't been able to catch her, and as long as she played it safe, it will stay that way.

Still, something akin to paranoia itched at the base of her spine, and she shivered.

"Hm? Busy my ass. Why didn't you ask for them last night, when I was over at your house? Idiot." Shintaro grumbled, and searched through his bag. "Where is Ayano? She is never this late. School is about to start." He added, glancing up at the doorway. He squinted. "Unless she is caught up with doing something..."

"Awh, does the big, bad, awesome Shintaro miss his crush?" Takane huffed, making grabby hands at the notes he pulled out. "I'm sure she's fine. She is Ayano, after all, the hero and all that. Now are you going to hand those over or what? I don't want to get lunch detention again."

"Tch." Shintaro scowled. Takane didn't miss the blush, though, and she inwardly smirked. "She isn't my crush. She is an idiot. Now here, before I change my mind and let you fail." He shoved the notes towards her, as the bell rang.

Takane hurriedly grabbed them and made plans to copy during her free time. The itching paranoia didn't go away.

She glanced at Shintaro to see if he was suffering the same problem, but nope, apparently all he cared about was Ayano walking through the door. It was only ten minutes after the bell before she came it.

And dammit, who was the guy next to her?

"Ahhh- Sorry, sorry!" , Ayano's mom, apologized to the class as they entered. Ayano was grinning hugely and the mystery guy was smiling a bit sheepishly. "I was just being introduced to our new student and got a bit caught up." She laughed.

Ayano sent an encouraging smile to the mystery guy, and Takane glanced at Shintaro to see him pale and gripping the edges of his desk. She rose her eyebrows and wondered if Shintaro had some jealousy issues or if he had some beef with the guy.

"His name is Haruka Kokonose!" Mrs. Tateyama said. "He is transferring to our class for the time being, on a case." Takane frowned and kept glancing at Shintaro and the mystery guy. Case? He was only a high school student...unless she actually meant a 'case', then that would just be weird.

A quick glance at Haruka's feet supplied her that he was, in fact, not on a case. But what could Mrs. Tateyama mean?

"Hello." Haruka greeted the class. The class chorused back mumbled 'good mornings' and 'hellos'. Shintaro was too busy freaking Takane out that both of them stayed quiet. "I hope to make some new friends here."

"And we hope you enjoy your stay as well!" Mrs. Tateyama nodded. She shuffled through her desk and frowned. "Ah... it seems that I was a bit _too_ caught up this morning that I forgot the announcements. I'll be right back! Remember, behave or it's detention." She said, already out the door.

Haruka stood awkwardly in front of the class. Shintaro was still pale and freaking Takane out. Ayano was practically vibrating in her seat.

Takane was about to punch Shintaro, or jump out the window, or maybe both, before Ayano was already up and talking to Haruka. Along with half the class. She frowned. Their class was never this _nice, _and if it was, then Takane must be slower than she thought.

"Wow! Are you really him?"

"You're so cool!"

"The wonderful 'Konoha', right in our classroom! This is so awesome!" Konoha?

What? Is this Haruka person someone famous? Konoha sounded like a pen name...Maybe he was a very popular gamer? She froze. If he was, then she'd had to be careful. It was embarrassing enough to be 'LightingDancerEne' online, she didn't need it to be out.

God, that would be embarrassing.

"Are you here for the 'Headphone Actor' case?"

Wait.

Wait, what?

"Maybe you can actually be the one to catch her? Wouldn't that be so cool?"

Haruka laughed, and Takane twitched at the sound. It felt as if everything was stripped bare and dipped in honey. The world was slow. "I'm mostly wanting just to meet her, actually." He admitted, and he had the gull to sound fucking embarrassed.

Before Takane could stand up and yell at him, Shintaro stomped on her foot. _Hard._

"Ow, you bitch-!" Takane hissed, as Shintaro tugged her down so that they were practically nose to nose in between the desk. She was about to comment about how gross it was that they were so close together before he spoke.

"Shut. Up." Shintaro's breath smelled of soda. Ew. "You need to be quiet. We- fuck..." He took a deep breath and exhaled, and Takane had enough of that. She leaned back. "We can do this, we can do this, we can do this..." He chanted, and Takane was still making a face.

"Dear god, do you ever drink something _other_ than soda? Or do you plan on dying of diabetes at a young age?" Takane said. Though she couldn't really talk all that much, seeing as of that her diet as of late was junk food and soda. But _holy hell_, the amount of soda Shintaro drinks should be illegal.

"Shut up." Shintaro mumbled, and Takane was relieved that he appeared to be a bit calmer. His hand was still gripping his pencil harshly, though. "We need to be calm. We can _do_ this." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself and not Takane.

Takane sent another curious and cautious glance at Haruka. Almost all the class was surrounding him and asking him questions, and that was good, because Takane was sure that Shintaro and her would've made enough noise to draw attention. Ayano was even oblivious as she was the one asking the most questions and grinning herself silly.

Takane haven't seen her this excited since her favorite anime came out.

"Who the hell is he?" Takane muttered, and glanced at Shintaro.

"He," Shintaro swallowed and slumped into his seat. His eyes were trained on Haruka though. "He might be the one to get you caught."

Takane didn't know whether to laugh, or to cry.

* * *

Like this chapter? Why not review, favorite, follow?

Or maybe you'd like a soda? Either way, I'm cool, man.

-AJS


	3. Chapter 2

Catch you, Catch me!

_This chapter is unedited._

**Warnings:** Swears, no editing.

**A/N:** Good news is that in the next chapter, the interactions of 'Actor' and 'Konoha' will be there! Bad news is that I haven't written any of that and might not be able to post it until after June. :D I'll be going away for the month, with only weekends home. So I'll try to use that time to develop plot AND write in brief periods and such.

Also! Thanks for reviewing, and everything! If I haven't replied, please don't feel insulted. D: I really do appreciate the feedback I've been getting. I'll do my best to reply, if possible.

With no further ado, enjoy!

(P.S A good reader doesn't hesitate to smack the author over the head for bad editing! :D Words of advice from yours truly, at least when it applies to me. Orz.)

* * *

Chapter Two

"I can't believe we're stuck doing such a stupid project." Takane groaned, her voice muffled by the desk. She was keen on hiding her face, especially seeing as of that the oh so great teenaged detective was currently standing right beside her desk.

Shintaro looked close to a hernia. If the situation wasn't so stressing, Takane would have laughed and probably snap a picture to be saved in a folder called 'Shintaro's Embarrasing Moments'.

Ayano laughed, tugging at her scarf in a nonchalant way. It was habit, Takane guessed, as she sat up grudgingly. "But it sounds so fun! And plus, don't you like shooting, Takane?" The question made Takane sigh, and Shintaro huffed. It might have been a laugh, but he was too busy scribbling away in his notebook for Takane to get a good guess.

"Not a real shooting range...," Takane retorted, and proceeded to send the glare at the person most responsible for this turn of events. Haruka only smiled at her glare, and fiddled with the sketchbook in his hands.

This, _this_, was the famous teenaged detective who went by the pen name 'Konoha'?

Takane was sure she did something so horrible in her past life to result in this type of scenario. She scowled harder at him, before returning to trying to take a nap in the noisy classroom. It helped that their peers stopped asking questions and muddled off in their own little groups.

But she was damn sure that they were taking pictures of Haruka behind his back, and Takane did _not_ need that sort of publicity because of how close he was standing to her.

"Sorry, Takane," Haruka smiled. Takane didn't even need to glance up to know that he was smiling. "I didn't know my opinion mattered so much in choosing a project for the school festival."

How dense could this idiot be? Of course his opinion would matter considering he is 'Konoha'.

After Mrs. Tateyama returned and Shintaro repeatedly _shoving_ his foot onto hers to keep her mouth shut, she had announced that the school festival was coming up and had little to a month to come up with a project and finish it; and then to present it to the whole school for the festival.

Haruka was, unsurprisingly, the first one Mrs. Tateyama asked if he had any ideas on what to do for the school festival. He had shyly suggested a shooting range, and the whole class -excluding Shintaro and Takane- all but jumped on the idea.

Now Haruka and Ayano, who volunteered -who would've guessed? _Not_ Takane-, were in charge of the project and guess who was going to be dragged up front with them? Ayano's unlucky friends of the day, Shintaro and Takane!

Honestly, just _what_ did Takane do in her past life to result in this?

"Hmph." Takane sat back up to give a proper glare at Haruka. "Whatever, now do you two have any idea how to do this project? Like, properly?" Because there had to be some sort of structure into doing this; it wasn't wise to jump to conclusions and just do things wildly.

Trust Takane; she had her fair share of impulsive affairs.

"Oh, er...," Ayano looked stumped. "Hm...I was just guessing we just need to build the shooting range and...that's that?" She let out a sheepish laugh, and Shintaro stopped his seemingly mindless scribbling to send her a look. A look that crossed between, in Takane's mind, irritation and a certain fondness Shintaro could only muster.

Nonetheless, he looked like he always did. Asshole-ish.

"I guess it isn't that simple, is it?" Haruka mused, still fidling with the sketchbook. Takane wanted to snap at him to stop it, but of course Shintaro was the one to step in.

"No." Shintaro spoke up, the first time after learning about this project and Ayano dragging Haruka over to introduce him to her two best friends. "Nothing is that simple. Lucky for you, I had prepared the general plot for this." He pointed to the journal and Takane leaned over slightly to peer at it.

What seemed like various scribbles was actually notes and a 'to-do' list. How Shintaro could do all this in such a short period of time, Takane didn't know. In the end, she made a face at it -Shintaro returned it via sneer- and leaned back in her seat. The notes still looked like mindless scribbles to Takane, for all she cared.

"Ah, so cool!" Ayano was also peering at the notes. Takane had a feeling she didn't have a clue about the notes like Takane did, but was exclaiming at all the 'awesome' that was Shintaro, apparently.

Apparently. Ayano liked Shintaro in a way that Takane could never understand. Shintaro cared for her in a way Takane could never understand. In the end, Shintaro summed up that Takane didn't understand a lot of things. Takane agreed, but if there was one that that she couldn't understand more than anything, it was Ayano and Shintaro.

She would get a headache if she thought too much on it, so she returned her attention back to Haruka, who was now talking.

"Hm, so we need to get wood, and shooting rifles...," Haruka looked thoughtful. "I think I have a friend who owes me a favor, so we don't need to worry about the shooting rifles right now!" He said, happy with his statement.

Takane felt her eye twitch.

Goddammit, what the hell _is _Haruka Kokonose?

…

"What the _hell_ are you drawing, Kokonose?" Takane narrowed her eyes at the sketchbook, and Haruka glanced up momentarily at her. He grinned, and Takane wanted to throw her lunch at him. Shintaro _gently_ shoved his elbow into her side to remind her that that was _not_ the wise thing to do.

"I'm drawing you, Takane!" Came the simple reply.

God, this whole day was just full of twists and turns and headaches. She felt her eyebrow quirk. "Why?" She asked, bluntly. Takane shoved more food into her mouth to keep her from saying more.

"Because." Haruka hummed, and peered down at his drawing in an almost admiring way. God, this was getting stalker-y fast. Takane sneered at him over a mouthful of food, but refused to say anything. What could she even _say_ to that?

"You can draw?" Ayano interjected, staring at the drawing in awe. "I can barely draw a straight line! That looks just like Takane, it's amazing!" She praised, eyes still flickering between the drawing and Takane herself. Shintaro let out another huff of a laugh that ended with a pained grunt, thanks to Takane perfectly aimed kick to his shin.

Haruka looked pleased, if somewhat embarrassed. Takane scowled deepened. "Thank you, Ayano." He said. His eyes didn't lose that pleased looked. "I'm sure you could draw if you practiced enough."

"Oh, no." Ayano replied, and Takane tried to imagine this awkward and clumsy hero trying to an artist, with paint and all that. She tried to stifle her smile into her food. "Oh, no, no, no. I'd probably find a way to set fire to the world if I somehow managed to draw!"

Well, in her defense, setting fire to the world _could_ be considered a form of art to a select few. Takane wasn't one of them, but she met a few people online who talked a lot of smack. So yeah, setting fire to the world could be considered art.

Not that she was going to say this to the group thing they had on top of the roof here.

"I don't think you can be _that_ bad." Haruka assured. "Takes a lot of practice, though."

Ayano suddenly looked excited at the prospect of being able to draw. So excited, that she knocked over her soda and spilled it over Shintaro and Takane was laughing.

"What the _hell_, Ayano?" Shintaro yelled, rubbing desperately at his pants as if to dry it quicker. Haruka helped, somewhat, by aiding him with napkins. Ayano looked sheepish and ashamed, and she was smiling apologetically at Shintaro.

"Sorry, Shintaro," Ayano apologized. "I- I didn't mean for that to happen."

"D—don't...," Takane said, breathless and grinning. Her stomach hurt from laughing. "No need to apologize, Ayano, I'm sure Shintaro is secretly _pleased_ at having soda spilled on him." Shintaro's dark glare swung over to her. She smiled, almost pityingly. Almost. "After all, your bloodstream is practically soda anyways; I'm sure you're getting off on this like the sick pervert you are."

Shintaro scowled. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He muttered, gruffly, and glanced down at his pants. Haruka smiled timidly, and Ayano still looked fretting. "I'm going to go get more napkins and another...nevermind." With another pointed glance at Takane, he left, shoulders hunched.

"Good luck, and good riddance!" Takane called out after him, still smilingly happily.

Ayano wrung her hands and smiled at Takane. "I think I should follow him; it's my fault that he's wet anyways." She nodded at both Takane and Haruka. "I'll see you in class, right?" Takane waved her off, eager to send her away to be the hero Shintaro sorely needed.

It wasn't until that the door closed with a soft creak that the reality hit her hard.

Takane, aka '_Headphone Actor', _was stuck on a roof with Haruka, aka _'Konoha'. _Alone.

Shintaro was right. Takane did _not_ make smart moves.

After a few moments of painstaking silence, and the _scratch-scratch_ of Haruka's pencil, he glanced up and Takane eyed him.

"So, Takane," Haruka smiled, serenely. "Do you have any hobbies that you like to do?"

_Yeah_, Takane thought glumly, _I like to steal things. How 'bout you?_

Instead, she said. "I like video games." It was blunt, and simple. Honestly, the shooting game she played was the only thing she really felt good at it. Everything else was too tiring and boring and annoying for her to handle.

"Really? What do you play?"

"None of your business, that's what." Takane grumbled, and Haruka blinked. "Not that you'd know anything about it, but it's called Dead Bullet 1989." She sniffed, glancing at her shoes. "But like I said, not like you'd know anything about it considering you probably don't have time for shooting games, right?"

Haruka laughed, and glanced skyward. He seemed thoughtful. "No, I don't really have time for games like that." He sent her a wry smile. "But I would like to, though! It seems fun. Ah, I only really have time for drawing and solving cases."

"What _is_ it like, you know, being a detective and all that?" Takane mused.

"...It's fun." Haruka said, after a bit of quiet. Takane wanted to facepalm; he'd probably answered this question a _million_ times already and Takane just asked it dumbly. "But..." He added, almost as an afterthought. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't a detective."

Takane just stared at him, and he refused to look at her, staring thoughtfully at his sketchbook. It occurred to him that she hadn't spoken in a bit, Takane guessed, as he suddenly seemed to shake himself out of his revere and smile happily at Takane.

"Not that it isn't fun or anything; but it'd be nice to be normal for once." Haruka continued. "Oh well." He closed his sketchbook and stood up, giving a slow stretch. He was really tall and Takane continued to stare at him until he asked. "Ready to go in?"

Takane scowled at him, deciding that no matter how much sympathy this boy could scrape from her, she'll always get annoyed at that gentle smile of his. Not that he could scrape much sympathy from her; she had bigger things to worry about.

Such as not getting caught by this boy.

…

"Well...,"

"..."

"..."

Shintaro glanced to the side, both of them located on Takane's porch. She offered to let him stay for a bit, but he insisted that he needed to drop off the calling card before heading home. Apparently he needed to babysit his little sister for his mom.

"Good luck tonight, by the way." Shintaro said, yawning. "You're gonna need it, from what I hear." Takane made a face, remembering Haruka.

No doubt he was going to be there.

"Whatever. I don't need luck." Takane replied, angrily. She needed money and nothing was going to stop that. Shintaro huffed, looking offended at her response but that was just how Takane was. He realized this a long time ago.

"Are you sure you want me to send the calling card in today, though?" Shintaro mused. "It's cutting it a bit close, don't you think?" Takane inched closer and closer behind her door, ready to slam it into Shintaro's face and be done for the school day.

But she had to admit, it _was_ cutting it a bit close. Sending a calling card on the day of another heist? Especially after the new addition of Haruka...But the jewel that was destined to be Takane's, if only for awhile, was worth _a lot_ and Takane _needed_ it.

Her grandpa _needed_ it.

So, yeah, as close as it was, Takane wasn't backing down. She told Shintaro this, and he sighed, resigned.

"Yeah, yeah." Shintaro said. "On that note, I'll be off." He turned and gave a wave, before walking down the street. Takane stared at his disappearing back before scowling and shutting the door with a slam. Leaving her bag beside the door, along with her shoes, she grabbed something to eat before heading to her room.

She wanted to take a nap before tonight, as brief as it would be, she needed the sleep from what the stress had did to her today. It felt as if Takane hadn't slept for ages.

Sitting down on her bed, Takane ate the bland sandwich bitterly. She spared a glance at her laptop, wondering if it was worth the less hour of sleep or not. Deciding that it was not worth it, for tonight at least, she turned her attention back to something that seemed to weigh heavy in the room.

Rubbing her hands on her shirt, getting the crumbs off, she picked up the piece of paper carefully, moving it in her hands gently. Picking at it, she thought about the events of the day. Haruka was definitely apart of her thoughts.

Actually, he was the one causing all the stress. She glared, imagining him wilting under her glare. Takane sighed, and remembered it was pointless. Sure, sure, Haruka is here, and will possibly catch her and sentence Takane to a few years in prison and no doubt her grandpa would die-

No. Takane would not allow that. No matter what happened, she would not stop until grandpa would get the surgery he needed, that's for damn sure.

Takane sighed again, and glanced at the newspaper clipping that inspired the previous call card that Shintaro and her made the previous week. The jewel was bright and red, and was smack dub in the eye of a snake statue. It was called the "Medusa's Jewel" and seemed to be worth a lot.

She stared at the picture for a bit, before tossing it to the side and burying her head into her pillow.

That jewel and her had a date with fate that night. And Takane will be damned if she'll let anyone get in the way of that.

* * *

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-AJ

:D


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